Stranded Freight and Bad Ribs

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

A few months ago, I bought a rack of baby-back ribs from a local grocer. The very next day I cut in to that plastic package as I was practically drooling at the thought of bbq’d ribs. Much to my dismay, this horrid smell of spoiled meat came flooding over me and my desire for bbq’d ribs quickly turned to a desire to keep my breakfast down. As I sat and waited for my appetite to come back to me, I started thinking of how this type of thing happens. What I realized is that I was probably not the only one dealing with bad ribs from that grocery store – I imagine that entire truckload of meat was ruined as it sat in the hot sun at some loading dock waiting to be unloaded at it’s final destination. Another casualty of supply chain mismanagement. Imagine the loss that the distributor and the grocer experienced from having dissatisfied customers and dealing with the returns of some pricey meat selections. I can’t speak for others, but I know that I don’t buy my meat from that grocer anymore.

Could this have been avoided? Absolutely. There are so many examples of problems with final destination (AKA: Last Mile) delivery. Freight, perishables, pallets, exhibits and tons of other deliveries get stuck somewhere in the middle and customers are left wondering. It’s amazing how things seem to travel seamlessly from one corner of the US to the other, but getting your freight off of the truck in the middle of the day on a crowded street with no parking can be close to performing a miracle. Or worse, wondering if your time-sensitive trade show booth was accidentally left on the dock the day your convention is starting.

Truck At Empty Dock

Now the concept of delivering freight may seem simple, but trust me, it CAN have its challenges. For example, when a truck comes in to a city like mine (Houston, TX), the delivery can be extremely tough. Getting through the traffic congestion and jams, or moving in and around the downtown area can be very tricky. Dock appointments can also prove to be a chore, particularly if the freight is going to a convention center. All of these challenges can end up with your freight stranded on a truck. So, what’s the solution? This is where it gets a bit more simple…find a last mile provider and transfer the load. What is a last mile provider? A last mile provider is a delivery service that specializes in the final leg of a delivery. They should offer a climate-controlled warehouse along with the proper equipment to handle a freight transfer.

This is an example of one service that my company, Hot Shot Delivery, handles on a daily basis. Our Nationwide Freight Service along with our in-city on-demand courier service can handle the process of unloading those huge 52 Foot 18-wheelers full of deliveries. Once unloaded,  we split them up between several smaller trucks, cargo vans and cars who can then cut the delivery time down by huge amounts. This gets the freight to the customer sooner, gets the 18-Wheeler back on the road to pick up more long-haul deliveries and when it’s all done – both sides of the equation have saved time, money and additional resources. Trust me, when you see long-distance trucking companies have to turn down deliveries because their trucks are sitting idle at a dock waiting to be unloaded, you would likely agree with the value of a last-mile delivery provider.

In the spirit of ribs, I’ll give you an example. We recently had a truck with 12 pallets of BBQ Spice Rub come in to town and have difficulties making their final delivery. Not only was the delivery point unable to unload the product (no loading dock and no forklift), but the truck would not even fit in the downtown area. The truck re-routed and came to our facility where we unloaded the product and re-loaded it on to a straight truck that had a lift gate. The delivery was done within an hour after we received the freight and the large truck went on to pick up his next load. The fee we charged was so much less than the charge resulting from the amount of hours the driver would have used on his log that we actually saved the customer money. And, the large truck driver was able to get halfway to his next destination in the time we saved him.

This service is available in almost every city. So, if you have to ship large items across the country, be sure to ask your delivery provider how they will be handling the last-mile delivery aspects. Because waiting around for the freight that is obviously stranded somewhere is not a good way to spend your day. If you need help with this or if you just want a great recipe for some BBQ’d ribs – don’t hesitate to contact me.

Until Next Time,

Eric

Tags: courier service, Last Mile Delivery, management, ribs, transportation solutions

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